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The bare ceiling greeted him the moment he opened his eyes. Fluorescent light filled the room and he took in a few deep breaths before willing himself to focus somewhere new.
It was his damn cough again, the itchy sensation that reappears at the back of his throat every time that leaves him restless. This was not the first time Akutagawa had been admitted, but it was the first for the year.
Surrounding him on his hospital bed was a mountain of pillows, two were tucked at his sides each whereas the remaining were just left to ‘support’ Akutagawa but were instead starting to give him a stiff neck.
Faded monochromatic fabric was used for the bolsters he was lying his head on and realises a few seconds later that they were indeed his own. Gin must’ve grabbed the nearest ones she could find, he thought while propping himself upright.
Akutagawa’s left arm quivered just when he was about to lift his head and he was back to square one. A beat of silence passed before there was a knock at the door. Expecting it to be his sister, he buries his face under a pillow from his side – knowing she’ll have another of those talks.
Any moment now she’ll start talking.
But alas, he was mistaken for it wasn’t Gin’s voice that was heard in the tiny room but a stranger’s.
“Hey, I was just checking up on your vitals.” The voice was soft and gentle – not every nurse he remembers had a voice like the one before him. Of course, the cloth of the pillow on top of his face covered his sight so the passing seconds felt a bit strange for Akutagawa.
There was the sound of faint tapping in which he thought the nurse was using a clipboard the person was carrying or whatever it was they used to pencil in information about patients to create the noise. “Hey! You shouldn’t bury yourself under the pillows!”
A pair of hands grabbed hold of the sides of the pillow that was blocking Akutagawa’s range of vision. It was unbearable when the brightly lit and dull looking room was in his sight. “Don’t tell me what to do,” Akutagawa murmured stiffly and it took a small toll on his vocal cords.
Akutagawa expected the nurse beside him to be taken aback by his harsh reply but it didn’t seem to faze the person he told off. “It was just a precaution. I’m a nurse after all,” the nurse tells him, putting the pillow at the end of the bed.
Akutagawa glares at the person standing at his footboard and was startled that the latter was smiling. It wasn’t forced — it was the kind where it was funny and he’s trying to fight off a laugh. The individual clad in faded colour scrubs was a young male that had choppy light grey hair, styled oddly; a long lock was at the right side of his face.
His skin was pale but his eyes made up for it. Purple and gold met with his slate grey ones. “Well, I’ll leave you to it. Just don’t bury yourself again under all those pillows.” The nurse motions to Akutagawa’s sides and before he knew it, he was back to having a quiet atmosphere.
Gin arrived around twenty minutes after the nurse took his leave. She found him facing the other side of the room, sound asleep. While carefully taking away the pillows that surrounded her brother, the process seemed to wake him from his slumber.
She made her way to the armchair placed at the corner of the small-scale ward and asked how he was doing. Maybe it was his sister’s way of lightening up the dour mood he was feeling, he doesn’t know but his reply goes something along the lines of – “I’m feeling excellent.”
“Not sure whether that was sarcasm or not but I’ll take what I can get.”
Akutagawa rolls his eyes at this and manages to sit upright. “You did go back home didn’t you?” He gives her a questioning look but no matter how many times this situation has happened, Gin sticks around till the next day. This was one of the things they disagreed on when Akutagawa was admitted for the first time.
“I did, I swear,” she assures him and thinks about the next thing to steer him away from the previous conversation. Before she could speak up again, her brother beat her to it. “The nurse earlier was a peculiar one.”
“Which one? There was one that checked in on you last night.”
“The grey-haired one.”
“You mean Atsushi? He’s pretty nice but a bit jumpy at times.”
Gin looks at Akutagawa nonchalantly and wonders why he brought it up and she decides to voice out her thoughts. “What brought this up all of a sudden?” Quirking up her eyebrow, she focuses on her brother.
“Is it wrong to talk about something out of the ordinary? And I only meant to say it as a statement.”
“Look who’s dragging the conversation,” a sly smile painted Gin’s lips and she quickly rose from her seat. “I may as well go get him if you’re so intrigued by him.” Akutagawa knows she’s teasing, she wouldn’t act on her words whenever there was a playful glint in her eyes.
Gin inches closer to the door and just as she was grabbing the door handle, he speaks up. “Where are you going?” There was an uncanny feeling settling in his stomach but he decided it was just hunger.
“Don’t worry, I’m just heading out to get lunch.” And with that she steps out of the room with a click from the door echoing in the tiny space. Akutagawa falls on his back again and the comfy sensation from his pillow made headrest eases away the edginess he was feeling earlier.
There was a knock at the door yet again.
And the one who pops into the room is Atsushi.
“You just checked up on me and it hasn’t even been an hour.” Akutagawa blatantly told the nurse who had just appeared. He wasn’t looking at him but he feels that the latter is still all smiley.
Sure enough, when Atsushi spoke up, he was patient and calm. “Yeah, just forgot the medical chart.” He gestures to the clipboard hanging at the left side of Akutagawa’s bed.
In three quick strides the nurse was beside him and grabbed the item he was looking for but it was like luck wasn’t just at his side today. Akutagawa started coughing again causing Atsushi to stop in his tracks.
He didn’t think he’d ever see anything move so agile yet so graceful at the same time. During that flurry of a minute, Akutagawa was still coughing but Atsushi got to the small table at the other end of the room with a glass half full and popped out a tablet from a blister pack.
“Here, this should help,” the nurse offered the glass and a single capsule in front of him. Muttering an inaudible ‘thanks’ for no one in particular to hear, Akutagawa downs the water after placing the tablet into his mouth. “Were you saying something earlier?” Atsushi asks, leaning against the bleak coloured wall.
“I said I didn’t need your help,” and again he expected him to flinch at the brusque reply but his expectations had proved him wrong once earlier. “But you didn’t say that did you?” Atsushi chuckles as he takes away the glass placed on top of the constricted bedside table.
Akutagawa glared yet again at the back of Atsushi’s head until said person turned to face him. “I may have forgotten to mention that you’re gonna feel some drowsiness around thirty minutes or so.” And he smiles that smile again and Akutagawa is irked.
He’d blame it on the prescription until today and deny any of the other possible ideas but never in a million years would he dare to admit that during those short seconds he felt these terrible and irregular beats of his heart. “The cough drops I intake don’t make me feel sluggish. What’s so different about this one?” Akutagawa asks, trying to focus on something that isn’t his jackhammering heartbeat.
“Well,” Atsushi starts and places his hand at the back of his neck, “I don’t really know. I was just a nurse about three and a half months ago.” Well, that explains his overly considerate and tolerant nature, Akutagawa considers. “But yeah, you’re gonna be asleep for a few hours but that’s it.”
And just as it was stated that luck seemed to stray from Akutagawa’s path, the door opened before he could ask the nurse one more question. Gin was standing at the doorway carrying a takeout plastic bag and she looked in between amused and surprised. He knows the next series of events that’ll play after Atsushi leaves.
“This is the part where I should take my leave,” his movements were fluid and passing by Gin, he smiled kindly back at her and probably told her about Akutagawa’s ‘scheduled’ siesta.
“So,” she says dragging out the ‘o’, “is there anything I should know?” She places her takeout on the floor and sits on the armchair. He didn’t want to converse about what Gin had in mind so he decided to change the topic. “What did you buy?”
“Nothing much – just yakisoba at the hospital’s food court.” There were a few beats of silence before she realised what Akutagawa was up to. “Hey, hey, don’t move the subject around. Now tell me something I don’t know about him.”
He wonders why his sister was invested in something like this but decides not to question and goes ahead to tell her. “Just started being a nurse around three months ago.”
“No wonder he’s-“
“Why are you-“
The siblings both spoke up at the same time but it was on different opinions about the same person. Gin didn’t seem to be bothered by the infuriation slowly sparking in Akutagawa’s words. In fact, her expression suddenly was as bright as an idea popped in her head. “You haven’t had tea, right? I’ll go get one for you right now.” Without another word, she left with Akutagawa stunned. He tried to think about many things she might pull on him as the sleeping side effect of the medicine kicked in.
Her jet-black hair was tied in a messy bun with little bits sticking out. It stayed that way even after hurrying down the busy corridors full of patients and visitors going in and out. The food outlets in the hospital were at the east wing whereas Akutagawa’s unit was situated at the west.
It was easy getting through the hallway full of equipment passing through or may it be people given that she was lithe. Around ten minutes passed when she got to the east wing and the smell of different dishes wafted at the doorway connected to the food chains awaiting customers.
The café was all the way at the end where it had its own compact veranda that overlooks a scenic view of Yokohama. Gin quickens up her pace to avoid being caught in a queue since it was still around midday.
When the smell of coffee beans grew stronger, that’s when the worst-case scenario started to unfold. A column of people was in front of her and it started from the bakery and it was only separated by another seating area for the food court. She sighs disappointedly, so much for catching him in his break.
Gin drags along her feet and lines up behind a woman with a child. Every once in awhile she would check the time on her phone and look at the number of people that were before her. Last time she counted was around fifteen, and seven minutes had passed so she decided to recount.
When the fifth person went up to the counter, she could have sworn she recognises the person with light grey hair. Stuck between the choice of being the tenth person to order and having a hunch that the fifth person in front of her was Atsushi, she decided to go with the latter.
Here’s to hoping that it is him.
(Please let it be him. She’s been trying to get these two to meet but all of her plans blew up on her face before it even started.)
Gin stepped aside from the woman she was behind and went on ahead to the front. And thank her lucky stars, it indeed was the person she was looking for – Nakajima Atsushi.
“Hey Atsushi!”
It startled the young male, which caused him to take a small step back. “G-Gin! I’m surprised to see you here.”
“Yeah, I was just queuing up to buy a cup of tea for Ryuu.”
She tries her best to look a bit incapable hoping that this part of her escapade works on him. Sure enough, Atsushi is looking at her with a concerned expression and Gin already knows what he’s about to say.
“I could order it!” She was about to reply and play the ‘shoot’ down his offer card but he gave no chance for Gin to execute it. “It’s nothing really.” Trying to fight the urge to whoop with delight at the top of her lungs, she instead smiled nicely at him and said thanks.
Waiting around for a few minutes, Gin stood at the counter tapping her finger against the wood. The employees were quick in making the orders of the customers but not fast enough. Before completely forgetting her brilliant idea, Gin poked Atsushi’s shoulder. “I completely forgot, can I have your phone number?”
He looked stunned after hearing the question she asked him. “My number? But didn’t you already save it a year ago?” His eyes blink back at her a few times and Gin feels like the scenario she had in mind was thrown to the void. “I misplaced it about a month ago and didn’t back my phone’s info onto my laptop.” It wasn’t a lie exactly because this did happen to her when she was a teenager. (Or she might’ve used the phone situation that happened to Dazai.)
“Do you have your phone? Or a piece of paper?” Atsushi inquires a second later.
Gin felt herself ease and let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. “I didn’t bring my phone, must’ve left it in my coat.” She said shaking her head, lying again through her teeth. “Maybe you could write it on a serviette?” Atsushi nods and grabs a napkin from the dispenser close to him.
When Akutagawa woke up with the scent of Earl Grey tea filling the room. On top of the small table beside his bed was a paper cup with a napkin tucked neatly underneath it. Scribbled in legible handwriting, he could just make out the numbers even with the ink bleeding everywhere. You’ll thank me later was written on the other side of the napkin and Akutagawa could’ve sworn he heard Gin’s playful voice as he read her words.
It was easy enough to guess whose number it was.